Councils and Committees

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​The need to innovate and to stay competitive is bringing retailers and suppliers together -- to learn from one another and to spark ideas and advancements that would not be discovered by individuals and companies acting alone. By bringing industry leaders together, RILA is facilitating this sharing of information that benefits not only the industry, but also the individuals and companies that participate.

Leaders Councils

Leaders Councils consists of the senior-most executive within the particular discipline from our retail member companies and Premier Product Supplier members, where appropriate. Premier Service Supplier members may be asked to provide input at a portion of some council meetings. The group will discuss annual goals and objectives for RILA within the specific discipline. They will also help staff committees within the discipline from their departments. The group will have benchmarking studies and suggest possible research topics.

Committees

Committees usually consist of other executives (vice president or director) who work in functional areas within the key disciplines, e.g. tax, human resources, supply chain security, operational audit. We also have committees that assist with the planning of our two major conferences - Logistics and Loss Prevention. Committees, in nature, cover topics that are long-term or permanent within the retail industry.
Committees will consist predominantly of retail members, but product manufacturer members and associate members may participate where appropriate.

Working Groups

Working Groups will consist of executives who are involved in a specific project that may be temporary or transitional in nature. It may not be their primary function, but the individuals are involved in the issues because of the current landscape. Working groups may come and go. They usually communicate via conference calls, with the possibility of meetings, as needed.
These groups consist of retail members only.

AP technology experts work to stimulate technological innovation for the mutual benefit of the retail AP industry and the solution providers who offer cutting-edge solutions to the problems retailers face in the future. Contact lisa.labruno@rila.org.

Efficient audit procedures and effective use of resulting data are key to maximizing operational effectiveness. The Operational Audit Forum is an online discussion board that enables AP practitioners to exchange information about the entire audit process - development, execution analysis and identification of data driven solutions - and to share leading practices to maximize efficiency and results. Contact kelly.foelber@rila.org.

Finance

Chief accounting officers, treasurers and/or controllers discuss positions on issues relating to financial reporting, procedures and audits based on data gathered through benchmarking and best practices. The council communicates to both government and non-government agencies and rule-makers to develop and advance a better and more accurate understanding of retail industry financial practices. Contact sue.pifer@rila.org.

Chief Audit Executives or the senior-most audit executives from member companies discuss emerging audit issues and internal controls, as well as block-and-tackle techniques for audit planning, working papers, risk assessments, and report writing. The committee also benchmarks leading practices on a variety of topics, ranging from department structure and staffing to handling more technical issues such as cybersecurity, PCI compliance, data analytics and more. Contact kathleen.mcguigan@rila.org.

Retail tax executives focus on federal legislative and regulatory tax issues impacting the retail industry. In order to provide input, feedback, and leadership on the tax issues of the day, the RILA Tax Committee works with the Internal Revenue Service, the Treasury Department and the tax committees of Congress on a routine basis. For more information contact david.koenig@rila.org.

Chief human resources executives from retail member companies meet to network and share information on leading practices, operational challenges, and industry trends. These leaders work collaboratively to identify opportunities in HR that could have a strategic impact on their organizations and provide direction for RILA's efforts in the human resources discipline. Please contact evan.armstrong@rila.org for more information.

Legal / Regulatory

The senior-most attorneys, reporting directly to the General Counsel, work collaboratively to exchange information including leading practices, challenges and trends to enhance legal department effectiveness. The committee communicates through meetings, conference calls, benchmarking surveys and educational webinars and presentations. Contact kathleen.mcguigan@rila.org.

The RILA General Counsel Committee addresses the broad array of legal, operational and policy challenges that retail companies face and provides advice and direction to RILA on strategies to assist retailers in meeting these challenges. The Chief Legal Officer or the General Counsel of each RILA retail member is invited to join the committee. The General Counsel Committee meets in-person twice each year and conducts conference calls as needed. Contact deborah.white@rila.org.

Public Policy

Senior-most retail communicators network with peers and discuss issues of common interest, including leading communications practices and issues with implications across the industry, such as cybersecurity and disaster response. Contact brian.dodge@rila.org.

Senior-most information security executives from retail member companies network, share leading practices and benchmark against one another on key issues facing the industry. Contact nicholas.ahrens@rila.org.

Chief privacy officers and general counsel executives address privacy issues affecting the retail industry, such as behavioral advertising, mobile marketing, CAN-SPAM, RFID, personally identifiable information and social networking. The group acts as a forum for engagement between the retail industry and government agencies, facilitating dialogue and better understanding between the two. Contact nicholas.ahrens@rila.org.

Senior-most government affairs executives from Premier Retail member companies, following the direction of the board, helps set the strategy of RILA's public policy work. Contact jennifer.safavian@rila.org.

Supply Chain

Vice presidents, directors, managers and analysts of trade, customs and import compliance from retail member companies focus on trade, both import and export issues, as well as global retailing issues. Contact hun.quach@rila.org.

Customs compliance executives come together to discuss and exchange information on customs issues to devise the best policy/government relations strategy to support retail member companies. Contact hun.quach@rila.org.

The senior-most supply chain executives of retail members gather to network, explore and critique the business implications of a wide spectrum of supply chain issues and to provide RILA with strategic direction in this area. Contact lisa.labruno@rila.org.

Sustainability

This collaborative group works with the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) and the Professional Retail Store Maintenance Association (PRSM) to engage retailers and developers in a dialogue to identify and address the sustainability challenges and opportunities associated with partnership between retailers and landlords. Contact erin.hiatt@rila.org.

In 2014, RILA's Retail Sustainability Initiative (RSI) partnered with nonprofit Forum for the Future to led three work groups to envision the industry's future. Those work groups have produced powerful tools to integrate sustainability into critical business decisions.
In 2015, those work groups will continue to meet to discuss how to implement the Retail Horizons' tools.
For more information, please contact Adam Siegel, vice president of sustainability and compliance, at adam.siegel@rila.org.

The committee is comprised of top sustainability executives and is charged with overseeing the structure and programming of RILA's annual Retail Sustainability Conference. Contact adam.siegel@rila.org.